Many victims of serious car accidents survived with impaired physical functions. Hong Kong record a

Injuries to the spinal cord may be caused indirectly, as by a blow to the head or a fall; by traffic accidents, sports injuries, or violence. The consequences depend on the amount of damage the cord sustains and where the damage occurs. Although spinal injuries are only a small fraction of all injuries; accidents cause an estimated 10,000 spinal cord injuries each year. Each year, more than two million Americans suffer a

Multiple conditions and disabilities can affect an individual’s emotional and physical wellbeing.   They may require extra support and encouragement with any activities they undertake, which could be a combination of both mental and physical disabilities. They will also need empathy and support with any emotional needs they may have.

Background and Purpose: Each year 76,000 pedestrians are struck by a motor vehicle sometimes resulting in multiple traumas and on average a hospital length of stay 10.8 (± 16.7) days. By definition, multiple trauma spans multiple systems, which makes measurements of the outcomes complex. The purpose of this case report is to show the effectiveness of the Physical Mobility Scale in determining improvements in mobility level of a 35 year-old patient in the acute care setting with multiple traumas following a pedestrian-car crash. Case Description: A 35-year-old female admitted to an acute care hospital following a pedestrian-motor vehicle accident. The patient presented with multiple and severe neuromusculoskeletal failures grossly affecting physical mobility and self-care. Outcomes: Improvement in mobility is evident comparing the patient’s Physical Mobility Scale scores on initial evaluation (0/45) and discharge (13/45). Functionally, the patient progressed from dependent to modified independent in all bed mobility and was able to transfer to a bedside chair with less assistance. Discussion: The Physical Mobility Scale was sensitive enough to reflect daily changes in mobility. This case demonstrates the usefulness of the Physical Mobility Scale in the acute care setting for measuring changes in function for a young adult patient

Now that I have shared a brief overview of the spinal cord and some statistics about spinal cord injuries, we will look at the past research that has led to the treatments most commonly used today. In 1990, a steroid called dexamethasone was discovered in human trials to preserve some motor and sensory function if administered at high doses within 8 hours of injury. Surgery used to remove fluid, tissue, or bone fragments, or to stabilize fractured vertebrae by fusing bones or inserting hardware has also proven to be one of the most thorough measures to prevent further harm. I received both of these treatments after my accident, and they are the same that have been used for the past decade. Until recently, doctors had no way of limiting such disabilities, aside from stabilizing the cord to prevent added destruction, treating infections, and prescribing rehabilitative therapy to maximize any remaining capabilities.

The Car Crash Study was done in 1974 by Loftus and Palmer that was aimed to test their theory that the language used in an eyewitness testimonies can alter the eyewitness’s memory of the event. They got 45 American students and showed them 7 films of traffic accidents, ranging from 5 to 30 seconds, in a random order. Afterwards the subjects were asked to describe what happened as if they were at the accident. They were then asked more specific questions such as, “About how fast were the cars going when they (smashed/ collided/ bumped/ hit/ contacted) each other?’. This was to see if the if the verb used in the question would affect the answers given by the subjects which it did. In the next part of the experiment they showed 150 students a one-minute film that showed a car driving through the country side followed by four seconds of a multiple traffic accident. Afterwards they split the students into three groups and asked them different questions. The first group was asked “How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”, the second group was asked “How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?”, and the third group was kept as a control group and wasn’t asked anything. One week later they were asked, without seeing the film, ten questions about the film. One question asked “Did you see any broken glass? Yes or No?” which there was none. The results showed that more participants who were asked “How fast were the cars going when they smashed?” said

In addition, the traditional Medical Social Work model as defined by the National Association of Social Workers, outlines the comprehensive role of social workers with patients in hospitals and medical settings; this model also has value for the patients represented in the neurogenerative community (National Association of Social Worker , 2011). Even so, this definition does not include how to address many of the common service challenges that arise from assisting patient with prolonged complex neurodegenerative disorders, or the range of services needed outside an institutional medical setting.

     This essay is not intended to criticize any emergency medical or hospital staff. I am writing this essay out of concern for patients who come into the emergency room that may have a jeopardized spinal cord resulting from an injury or suspected injury to their cervical spine. I am a certified emergency medical technician, farm-medic instructor and currently a medical diagnostic student doing clinicial's. In the United States each year there are approximately 10,000 reported cervical spine injuries that come into emergency rooms. Motor vehicle accidents account for approximately 45%, falls approximately 30%, the remaining 25% from sports and miscellaneous. Although only a small amount of

In the fall semester of 2012, four teenagers at the high school I attend died tragically in automobile accidents. One of the students who lost their life was my cousin Acasia Lee. She neglected to wear her seatbelt while operating her vehicle and she died because she did not have it on.

The degree of ability or disability may vary over time and across different life domains. Furthermore, continued disability has been linked to institutionalization, discrimination and social exclusion as well as to the inherent effects of disorders. Alternatively, functioning may be affected by the stress of having to hide a condition in work or school etc., by adverse effects of medications or other substances, or by mismatches between illness-related variations and demands for

One second your life is going normal and the next thing you know you end up in the hospital with missing limbs or dead parents, siblings, or friends. Stephani Victor is a paralympic skier who lost her legs to a distracted driver. “I was simply going out to dinner when an out of control car came up into the driveway and crushed me into the back of the vehicle that we were loading,” Victor said. A car went in the driveway and pinned her inside and crushed her legs. This is one of many disabilities people get from people who decide not to focus on the road. It can take year to heal and can be very expensive for all the medical bills and all. It can also be expensive to the car and your car

In the year of 2010 I suffered from a spinal cord injury from attempting to make a tackle during football practice. I was immediately paralyzed from the chest down with fracturing my C-4 and C-5 vertebras. With me

Spinal cord injury is a serious problem that effects close to 250,000 people in the United States with 10,000 people being injured per year . There are many things that can lead to spinal cord injury, including athletic injuries, car accidents, and recreational activities like swimming and biking. It primarily effects those between the ages of 16 and 30 and drastically effects the rest of their lives. It is a very debilitating injury that requires extensive medical care, often leaves the patients in a great deal of pain for the rest of their lives(2), and the treatment of which costs $10 billion dollars a year in the US.(facts from site 1) With all of these factors spurring research on there is a strong drive to

A health theory that applies to the project on SCIs is the social cognitive theory because it “describes a dynamic, ongoing process in which personal factors, environmental factors, and human behavior exert influence upon each other” (National Cancer Institute, pp. 19, 2005). Three main factors of the social cognitive theory that affect the likelihood of a person performing a behavior are self-efficacy, goals, and outcome expectancies (National Cancer Institute, pp. 20, 2005). A goal of this project is to help improve or maintain the self-efficacy of people living with SCIs and their caregivers, leading to them to have a better quality of life. Self-efficacy is defined as confidence in the ability of a person to overcome barriers and take action (National Cancer Institute, pp. 20, 2005). The projected outcomes benefitting the agency and me, stated earlier in this section, can assist patients living with SCIs and their caregivers achieve confidence in performing the expected behavior, which is to utilize the resources that they are provided. This can lead to the improvement of the function of the patient, which implies the benefit of their physical, mental and

Persons with SCI seem to face various critical obstacles such as poor social culture to deal with them, poor urban planning and architecture for the SCI, and different types other problems at the social level. These factors causing mental distress for them, lead to failure in their primary struggles to achieve participation in activities and lead an independent life. Babamohamadi et al. (2011) showed that one of the main obstacles for persons with SCI is adaptation with their new situation after the injury is lack of social acceptance and support.

According to Chiles and Cooper (1996) spinal injury should always be suspected in patients with severe systemic trauma, patients